I’m an idiot – I Could have and should have gone to this game. Tickets to the Nets are absurdly cheap right now – we’re talking $5 for first row in the lower bowl cheap. That’s currently the state of NJ Nets basketball.

What started as a sloppy blowout turned into a pretty fun game in the last couple of minutes. The Cavs lead by as much as 12 (or was it more? I can’t remember) points to begin with but, due to some crappy D and lots of turnovers in the second quarter, allowed the Nets to get back into the game. Thanks to some nice interior offense (and Mr. Fourth Quarter) the Cavs were able to hang on and beat a clearly inferior team.

Onto the good, the bad, and the rest —

The Good:

Tristan Thompson’s Career Day – TT had his way inside, especially in the first half, where he had already set his career points high with 17 (he ended with 27!) When you’re going up against Sheldon Williams and Mr. Kardashian things will probably work out for the best. Tristan also had 8 O boards. Once the Nets adjusted and put Gerald Wallace on TT, he slowed down considerably. Still, nice game on offense TT!

Kyrie’s Fourth Quarter – I mean…wow…he was just BLOWING past the competition at the end of the game. The Nets literally threw everything at him – Deron, Wallace…yeah…that’s everything…Still it didn’t matter – he was hitting everything, inside and out. As usual, Mr. Fourth Quarter was the primary reason we won in the end.

Donald Sloan – True story, I kept forgetting who number 15 was. I wont anymore. The former D leaguer and newly jerseyed Cav had a great second game when Kyrie’s fouls took him out. Sloan ran the O really well and hit a couple of good shots (he had 5 in the fourth quarter). Even more surprisingly, he did a great job defending Deron Williams, which is quite the feat. Sloan finished with a +7.

Samardo – If he keeps playing like this, I think we’ve finally found that rotation PF/C. Lots of energy on both ends, took some smart shots. Really pleased with the way he’s played the past few games.

The Bad:

The Cavs D – There was almost none of it at the end of this game (or in the middle of it, for that matter.) In particular Kyrie and Jamison were just getting manhandled – Kyrie got BLOWN away by Deron on a crazy dunk, Jamison was getting killed by Mr. Kardashian and Wallace. (About Jamison – he literally lagged off Wallace by about two feet, daring Wallace to shoot a three, which he promptly drained. Jamison must be injured or something, because he doesn’t seem to be able to lift his arms up when people shoot the ball…) Even Gee got burned a few times. Playing such poor D will work alright against the Nets, but that’s not going to fly against pretty much any other team.

TT’s D Rebounding – This is seriously starting to worry me. He had FOUR (seriously…FOUR) rebounds and he played for almost 38 minutes. Thompson spends so much time up in the air while guys are shooting that he always seems to end up facing away from the basket when the ball bounces off. Mr. K and Sheldon Williams combined for 6 O rebounds – I’m attributing at least a couple of those to TT. Keep your eye on this, because if his D rebounding doesn’t improve, it’ll quickly become a major sticking point.

The Rest:

Boobie Gibson left in the 3rd with an ankle (?) injury. Since Sloan looks more than competent, maybe this means we’ll see some more Manny?

Speaking of Manny, he was inactive tonight.

Finally, a weird fact I did not know – turns out Kidd-Gilchrist and Kyrie played on the same high school team. Maybe that wasn’t the last time they’ll play together…?

Keep your eyes peeled for our next podcast, which I will post tomorrow (we recorded today).

All in all, an ugly game that turned into a decent game. Cavs get the Hawks on Wednesday (and then Magic on Friday). Until then, friends…

“Facing Thompson, Atlanta’s Zaza Pachulia, a true center was held to a 3-for-11 evening from the floor on Sunday, but amassed 12 rebounds and a blocked shot. The most recent fourth-overall pick is undeniably raw and could certainly stand to add a few pounds to his frame, but he has worked harder and longer than any member of the Wine and Gold over the last few weeks. On his 21st birthday late last week, Thompson was the last player to leave the shootaround floor, having clocked additional minutes to work on his offensive postgame. Later that evening, he and fellow rookie Kyrie Irving were the first to take the floor to get in even more practice time.” [Scott Sargent]

“F Alonzo Gee will be a free agent this summer. He has made a major impact on the Cavs this year, so much so that general manager Chris Grant is now mentioning him as one of their core players. ‘I would love to come back, especially with Kyrie (Irving) and Tristan (Thompson),’ he said. ‘Hopefully, everything works out.'” [Sam Amico]

I have the privilege of covering the first post-trade deadline Cavs tilt. For a mid-season tussle between the sixth and tenth best teams in the East, this game includes some intrigue. Tristan Thompson starts at center for the first time, and Cleveland gets a look at D-League dynamo Donald Sloan, in his audition for back-up point guard duties.

Hopefully the Cavs give Sloan some decent minutes over the rest of the season. If there has been an “opportunity lost” this season, it’s not trying out random young guys. Within the re-building process, there are (ideally) only a couple of seasons to let unproven players strut their stuff. Last year is not for duplication; but Eyenga, Gee, Harris, Samuels and Harangody all saw significant floor time, and Cleveland found a player in Gee. Why the Cavs didn’t draft someone at #32 and #54 and why Manny Harris has only played 19 minutes this season is lost on me; did we need to see if Irving, Gibson, AND Sessions could make it work on the court at the same time? Or did Luke Harangody need to play back-up small forward for two games? Finally, most perplexingly, why is Ryan Hollins still in the NBA? Between Harris, two second round draft picks and now Sloan, maybe another unexpected rotation player could have been unearthed. With Sloan and Manny, there’s still a chance. In the near future, hopefully there aren’t any rotation minutes available for “walk-ons”, so might as well do it now. There’s actually been a pretty big NBA success story by a resurgent D-Leaguer this year…I can’t think of his name right now…he got a little press…Jeremy something. Anyways, hopefully Mr. Sloan proves capable of leading the second unit for a few months (or years). If not, the stakes were low.

The next month and a half could be painful. The Cavs have played the least games in the NBA; what that means obviously, is that they have the most left to play. Twenty-five games in forty days, with fourteen on the road, for a young and increasingly less-deep team is problematic. Who guessed that day-to-day respectability for Cleveland would hinge on Donald Sloan?

Regardless of how it goes, it’s only six weeks. Irving, Varejao, Gee, Thompson, one mid-lottery pick, three other top-forty selections (hopefully two rookies contribute next year) and a couple of solid free agents should have the Cavs battling in the East next year. Better things are on the horizon.

Now, onto today’s game…Things started poorly, as the starters took the Cavs to an early 11 – 19 deficit. When Jamison is missing (0 for 4 in 1st quarter), this unit just doesn’t score enough. The Hawks kept the ball moving and found a lot of open shooters, finishing the first frame five of seven from long range. Irving and Gee scored 15 of the Cavs 19 points. Irving was the real bright spot, registering 8 points without missing a shot, to go with 3 assists and no turnovers. The second quarter featured more of the same. Irving and Gee provided the only reliable offense, Joe Johnson looked too big for Gee to handle, and the Hawks were on fire from deep, leaving the half ahead 59 – 45. Irving and Gee combined for 26 of those 45. In the third, Atlanta’s long range bombing returned to this planet, and Cleveland actually chopped their deficit to 6 points late in the quarter. Irving moved the ball expertly, setting up shooters from deep and at the rim, largely benefitting Antawn, who tallied eleven points on the quarter. Unfortunately, the Cavs’ preferred second string today was Gibson, Parker, Casspi, Samuels and Thompson. That lineup is not going to score against NBA defenses; Atlanta started the fourth quarter on a 12 to 4 run and never looked back. No amazing fourth quarter heroics from Kyrie, and the Hawks won by a final score of 103 to 87.

Onto some bullets:
• Kyrie Irving had great command of the offense: 19 points on 14 shots with 10 assists and 2 turnovers. The “smoothness” of the Cavs offense drops by approximately 372% when point guard duties change from Irving to Gibson. With Gibson as PG, the Cavs completely function as a jump shooting team. For two stretches, the Cavs backcourt was Gibson, Parker, Casspi. These players all have a role in the NBA; unfortunately it’s all the same role – spotted up in the corner, waiting to drain an open three. Trying to run an NBA offense through those three is not possible (it didn’t help they were teamed with Thompson and Samuels).

• This brings me to Donald Sloan. I’m intrigued by Sloan. After four years at Texas A&M, he won MVP of the pre-draft Portsmouth Invitational in 2010. Apparently he’s an aggressive, scoring minded combo-guard, but he also exhibits decent court vision. Last year, in 54 D-League games he averaged 11 points on 50% field goal shooting, but also had a 2.5 to 1 assist to turnover ratio. In 8 games this year, his numbers increased to 22 points per game, still with 50% shooting (80% free throws) and 7.4 assists. Daniel Gibson should not be the back-up point guard; hopefully Sloan starts seeing 15 minutes a game ASAP. There is zero risk in letting this happen.

• Along the same lines of thinking; someone please explain Anthony Parker playing 34 minutes. We do know that Manny Harris and Donald Sloan are alive; they played one minute and twenty-one seconds of garbage time. Manny scored four points and Sloan assisted on one of those buckets. I don’t know how Parker’s 6 points on 3 of 10 shooting makes sense for the present or the future.

• Alonzo Gee tied a career high in scoring with 20 points to go beside 9 rebounds. He’s awesome. I counted at least three Sportscenter worthy dunks as part of his scoring onslaught.

• I’ve tried to be optimistic about Thompson…he’s twenty…he’s athletic and plays hard…etc, etc, etc. In nine March games though, he’s averaging 5 points and 5 rebounds in 24 minutes per game on 28% field goal shooting. There hasn’t been a ray of sunshine from TT in a while now. My expectations have always been relatively controlled, something like “great third big man on a contender”, but it would be outstanding if TT could roll out a double-double here soon. Ya know, make me remember that he’s capable of contributing.

• The Hawks shot way too many open threes in the first half. During this time, Josh Smith mainly dribbled unobstructed, drew an extra defender and kicked to an open shooter. In addition, Jamison was 6 of 22; this was definitely a bad Antawn game.

That’s it for now. Cleveland plays every day from now until the end of April. Just kidding, but they do play at New Jersey tomorrow. Maybe we’ll get to see D-Sloan abuse D-Will. Here’s to wishful thinking.

“As another trade deadline came and went, Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant sat before the media collective and discussed his most recent bout with franchise yoga. After weeks of unrolling the team’s proverbial mat, discussions of potential poses and the deflection of all distractions during the methodical inhales and exhales, the team left its second consecutive trade deadline more financially flexible than when it arrived.” [Scott Sargent]

“People will inaccurately assess this trade by looking at how it benefits the Lakers, instead of looking at how the Cavaliers benefit from it. I don’t particularly care if it filled one of the Lakers’ biggest needs — it got the Cavs some valuable assets. All I know is that the Cavs had little to no use for Sessions and were able to get something for him. As a side note, look at the rest of the league at the trade deadline. Did you see any other point guards getting traded? No. Not a single one. There clearly wasn’t a huge market for point guards, so if you think the Cavs could have gotten “significantly” more for Ramon, you’re just wrong. If the deal was out there, they would have done it.” [Conrad Kaczmarek]

“Yes, it was a good trade. Ramon Sessions deserves to be a starting PG in this League, and now he will be. I know he tried that once in Minnesota, after playing for the Bucks in a reserve role behind Mo Williams, and that didn’t go well for him then. But, there’s no denying that he’s improved his game dramatically in the seasons that followed here in Cleveland, and he turned himself into a player you’d trade a first round pick for in the process.” [Brendan Bowers]

“The Cavaliers believe the trade will benefit them long term. But for the next six weeks the Cavaliers must settle on a backup point guard to spell Irving, who’s averaging 30.9 minutes per game. Among rookies only Detroit’s Brandon Knight (32.1 minutes) is earning more playing time. (Minnesota’s Ricky Rubio was drawing 34.2 minutes before suffering his season-ending knee injury.)” [Tom Reed]

Here we are: clothed in soot; scavenging for water; locating the injured by following, like hounds, the sonic trails of muted wails for help. Somewhere a few thousand feet in the distance, embers catch a ruptured fuel line. An orange shape blooms like a rapidly inflating balloon, and we feel heat on the tips of our noses. Those who have perished will not be attributed names. They are part of this new wasteland, some literally fused to it—their skin has melted and coagulated with pavement, steel, and brick. The history of this day will be related in shrieks and gravelly whispers.

Or not exactly. The Cavs traded their backup point guard for a draft pick, the opportunity to move up in next year’s draft, and a couple of mediocre white guys, one of whom has a bloated contract that expires in fourteen months. It’s a half-move, informed by prudence. I think those wondering if the Cavaliers front office thought the team could mount a legitimate playoff run have their answer: no pieces were added and an important rotation player was moved. Those looking for the team to be sold for parts are only partially satisfied. Cavs fans will know more of the front office’s intentions if and when an Antawn Jamison buyout arrives, but as constituted, this team is likely to finish somewhere around tenth in the Eastern Conference.

I like the trade itself; it’s Prestian in its ethos: ship out what you don’t need, take on money in the short-term to improve your position in the draft, and if you finish with a worse record in the process, so be it. A lot of experts are calling this a coup for the Lakers, but I think a lot of experts haven’t seen Ramon Sessions play much basketball. He’s a good backup and a subpar starter, certainly better than Steve Blake or Derek Fisher, but the gap between him and Kyle Lowry is lake-sized. He can score, sometimes in bunches, and he’ll have the odd game where he racks up double-digit assists. He’s ball-dominant, totally capable of having a five-turnover nightmare of a game, and asking him to check a talented guard is like putting duct tape over the mouth of a geyser. I think he’ll be fine in LA, and they’ll be happy to have unburdened themselves from Luke Walton’s albatross-ish contract, but getting a first-rounder and moving up some eight spots in next year’s draft is more valuable to the Cavs than any contribution Sessions would have made over the coming years. (If he even elected to stay in Cleveland, for that matter.)

After one and a half seasons, I’m beginning to get a feel for Chris Grant’s front office philosophy. I think a very specific concept of value is often in the forefront of his mind.We see this more in the moves he didn’t make than the ones he did. There’s no way teams haven’t been inquiring about Anderson Varejao for the past month. Until his injury (which will be healed soon), he was playing the best basketball of his life; he’s a good enough player to turn a fringe contender into a threat, and a threat into a champion. But all the teams that would want Varejao—the Heat, Clippers, Lakers, etc.—don’t have assets of sufficient value. Varejao’s value is probably something like a pick in the mid-teens, and the Cavalier front office can’t stomach trading him for a selection ten spots higher. Nevermind that he’s 29, nevermind that trading him would cause the team to lose more games, and in its own way, produce a sort of value by improving the Cavaliers’ lottery odds. Anderson Varejao is a good player, and he’s going to stay a Cav unless another team offers to send back some legitimate assets.

Following this reasoning, I don’t think Chris Grant and company will make the decision to buyout Antawn Jamison. (Though we will soon find out, obviously.) Unless there were absolutely no offers for ‘Tawn that didn’t involve taking back an egregious contract, they must have had the opportunity in the past couple of weeks to trade him for something. Sowhy would they pay him to do nothing? It seems antithetical to everything else Grant has done in his short tenure as GM. And that’s without taking into account the whole “Dan Gilbert might be terrified that Jamison would sign with the Heat” problem.

So here we are: somewhere between no man’s land and oblivion; outside of the playoff hunt, but not Bobcat-like. I think this is where Chris Grant believes the Cavaliers should be almost one year removed from one of the worst seasons in franchise history. He’s not pressing down the plunger on a detonator or harboring delusions of a first-round playoff upset. Apart from a fanbase divided by virulent theism and atheism, he leans agnostic. And so here we are, here are we because of him.

Ramon Sessions is headed to the Lakers. Details are shady right now (I’ll fill in the details as they become available), but Windhorst says the Cavs are getting a “future draft pick.”

UPDATE: Okay, here are the details: Sessions & Eyenga to the Lakers for Luke Walton and their 2012 first rounder (top 14 protected). The Lakers also have the right to swap their 2013 first-rounder with the Cavs’ Heat selection. I liked this trade a lot better when it didn’t involve the words “Luke Walton.”

UPDATE #2: Jason Kapono has also been included in the Sessions deal.

UPDATE #3: The Plain Dealer is reporting the Cavs are done for the day.

UPDATE #4: Windhorst has corrected himself. The Cavs will have the ability to switch picks with the Lakers in the 2013 draft. So that Miami pick that’s probably going to be in the late 20s? They can swap it with the Lakers, who will probably be picking closer to early 20s/high teens.

I’ll be keeping you updated all day on any Cavs-related trades, but first a couple of things:

–The trade deadline is at 3 PM EST.

–I don’t know how Ramon Sessions survives until 3 PM, but I don’t know of any specific rumors. It’s the same stuff we’ve been hearing for about a month: the Lakers really want Sessions and see him as a solution to their point guard problem. But how that deal gets done, exactly? I don’t know. Would the Cavs take a Lakers first-rounder for Sessions? Are the Lakers going to need to involve a third team? I think we’re about to find out.

–I’ve heard nothing on Jamison except a few unreliable “Jamison to the Hornets for Emeka Okafor and a draft pick” rumors, but it doesn’t make sense to me that NO would give up the T’Wolves pick just to unburden themselves from Okafor’s contract.

–Nothing on Andy Varejao whatsoever.

And that’s all I know. Obviously, the Cavs, rebuilding as they are, are in a situation to field offers on anyone not named Kyrie Irving, so I wouldn’t be shocked if to see “Alonzo Gee to wherever” flash across my Twitter feed. If I had to make a prediction, I would say Sessions goes and everyone else stays, but then predictions are asinine and this whole thing will be over in a few hours regardless. I’ll keep you posted, friends.

The Lineup: (Click for Author’s Archive)

Nate Smith is an Associate Editor. He grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and moved to NE Ohio in 2000. He adopted the Cavs in 2003 and graduated from Kent State in 2009 with a BA in English. He can be contacted at oldseaminer@gmail.com or @oldseaminer on Twitter.

Tom Pestak is an Associate Editor. He's from the west side of Cleveland and lives and (mostly) dies by the success and (mostly) failures of his beloved teams. You can watch his fanaticism during Cavs games @tompestak.

Robert Attenweiler is a Staff Writer. Originally from OH, he's long made his home in NYC where he writes plays and screenplays (www.disgracedproductions.com) some of which end up being about Ohio, basketball or both. He has also written for The Classical and the blog Raising the Cadavalier. You can contact him at rattenweiler@gmail.com or @cadavalier.

Benjamin Werth is a Staff Writer. He was born in Cleveland and raised in Mentor, OH. He now lives in Germany where he is an opera singer and actor. He can be reached at blfwerth@gmail.com.

Cory Hughey is a Staff Writer. He grew up in Youngstown, the Gary, Indiana of Ohio. He graduated from Youngstown State in 2008 with a worthless telecommunications degree. He can be contacted at theleperfromwatts@yahoo.com or @coryhughey on Twitter.

David Wood is our Links Editor. He is a 2012 Graduate of Syracuse University with an English degree who loves bikes, beer, basketball, writing, and Rimbaud. He can be reached on Twitter: @nothingwood.

Mallory Factor is the voice of Cavs: The Podcast. By day Mallory works in fundraising and by night he runs a music business company. To see his music endeavors check out www.fivetracks.com. Hit him up at Malloryfactorii@gmail.com or @Malfii.

John Krolik is the Editor Emeritus of Cavs: The Blog. At present, he is pursuing a law degree at Tulane University. You can contact him at johnkrolik@gmail.com or @johnkrolik.

Follow Me On Twitter

General NBA

Other Places To Find My Work

The Comment Monster

A monster lives in the comments section of Cavs: The Blog, and he likes to feed on comments. We have very little idea about when he will strike. What we do know is that comments with 2 or more links will get filed into the spam folder, as will comments with foul or discriminatory language. The comment monster also seems to enjoy extra-long comments, so if you have a long comment, you may want to press copy before submitting a long comment and break it into multiple pieces if the monster eats it. If you are having particular trouble with the monster, email one of us and we will talk to him for you.